1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to the field of movable roof panels on automotive vehicles and more specifically to the area of providing electrical energy directly to such panels which contain electrical field responsive materials.
2. Background Information
The use of movable roof panels (sometimes referred to as sunroofs or moonroofs) on automotive vehicles is quite common and several prior art mechanisms are known to provide electro/mechanical movement to open and close the panels. For instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,659,141 and 4,468,063 describe the use of an electric motor and a mechanical linkage to move a sunroof panel between a fully closed and a fully retracted position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,895 describes the use of liquid crystal materials in various zones of a light transmitting sunroof in order to control the amount of light transmitted through the panel.
However, the technique for applying electrical energy directly to a movable sunroof panel needs specific attention in order to obtain reliability and avoid damage to the power supply which provides the electrical energy.